Cmdr. Colette Lazenka relieved Cmdr. Jason Saglimbene as commanding officer of the “Bloodhounds” of Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 30 during a change of command ceremony at Naval Base Ventura County, Point Mugu, California, on May 12.

The ceremony also marked Saglimbene’s last day in uniform; he is retiring from the Navy.

Capt. Ryan Bryla, Naval Test Wing Pacific commodore, presided over the change of command, and Rear Adm. Pete Garvin, Naval Education and Training Command, gave remarks.

If you’ve ever seen an advertisement for a BPA-free water bottle or heard from a friend that you shouldn’t microwave your food in a plastic container, you may have wondered what all the fuss is about. BPA or bisphenol A is a ubiquitous chemical that can be converted to polycarbonates, epoxy resins, and coatings used in construction, automotive applications, food packaging, electronics, optics, medical materials and even thermal receipt paper.

Humbled and honored.

That’s what both Robyn Newcomb and Michael Szczerbinski had to say about being named Naval Air Systems Command’s mentors of the year for Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division in China Lake and Point Mugu, respectively.

And that makes sense for two former active-duty service members described as giving mentors and role models who each believe that paying it forward and making a difference are keys to both success and happiness in work and life.

Kevin Gross, the director of Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division’s Threat/Target Systems Department, joined the third iteration of the Percy Hobart Fellowship, an innovation-learning program previously offered to participants from the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy and Royal Air Force.

Dr. Randall McClain and Dr. Ben Harvey, research chemists working for Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, published groundbreaking research in the field of single molecule magnets in the Jan. 14 edition of Science magazine, the flagship journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

“Science is one of the most prestigious U.S.-based scientific journals,” Harvey said. “The articles need to describe ground-breaking work that is of interest to all scientists, and most scientists never get this opportunity.”

Rear Adm. Scott Dillon presented Clint Robbins, Spectrum Management Branch head, with a 40-year length-of-service award during a ceremony in China Lake on Jan. 6.

Robbins, a native of Walker, California, joined the Air Force in 1981. He served for 21 years, first as a tactical ground radio operator stationed overseas, then returned to the U.S. as a combat crew communications specialist assigned to Strategic Air Command.

Dr. Benjamin Harvey, senior research chemist with Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, was named a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors on Dec. 7.

The NAI Fellows Program highlights inventors who have demonstrated a spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development and the welfare of society. To date, NAI Fellows hold more than 48,000 issued U.S. patents. The current Fellow class collectively hold 4,800 issued patents.

Manik Yeremyan, AEGIS flight test engineer, received the Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 30 and Weapons and Warfare Systems Test Department’s 2020 Test Engineer of the Year Award during a ceremony Oct. 7 in Point Mugu.

Yeremyan, a Burbank native who joined Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division in 2012, received the award for her “outstanding ability, aptitude, and motivation” as well as her “outstanding technical skills [which] enabled her to lead multiple complex projects that included extensive tasking” outside of her normal duties.

The opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics is Friday, July 23. People across the globe will tune in and watch athletes compete for the gold and think to themselves – I wonder if I could do that? Could I even come close? Would I even be able to try?

Jayson Kovar, a general engineer and warheads lead with Ordnance Assessment for Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, will be watching as well. But unlike most of us, he’s reached for that Olympic ring.

On Feb. 18, NASA landed their latest rover, Perseverance, on the surface of the Mars. The landing, filmed in its entirety for the first time, had everyone holding their breath at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory as they waited to learn whether the rover – a product of decades of work by hundreds if not thousands of people – would touch down safely after its 300 million mile trip.